I Wonder If The Syrians Call It Premium Beer, Too

Syria’s national beer is a perfect metaphor for its government’s actions. Previously called Barada, after the river that runs through the capital, the beer was notoriously bad and came in stubby green bottles. Earlier this year, the government-owned brewery overhauled its brand. It changed the name to Turbo and began packaging it in cans that proclaimed: “It is considered as one of the world’s best beers.” But the substance contained inside remained as lousy as ever. Repackaging the same product and proclaiming its excellence, it seems, has become the regime’s modus operandi.

What is far less disturbing than the menace behind this tale of branding - but still worth noting - is how the analogy is reversible. It is the antithesis of the free market, other than the adage caveat emptor perhaps, that the renaming, repackaging, repositioning, restructuring or replacing of the shell somehow improves what's inside. It presumes that the consumer is a dupe, a dimwit, a mook. Nothing more than a element in an equation that looks something like A + B < C where "A" is the brewer's inputs and "C" the brewer's reward. B is the you, the consumer.

Maureen Ogle said this about the book: "... immensely readable, sometimes slightly surreal rumination on beer in general and craft beer in particular. Funny, witty, but most important: Smart. The beer geeks will likely get all cranky about it, but Alan and Max are the masters of cranky..."

Ron Pattinson said: "I'm in a rather odd situation. Because I appear in the book. A fictional version of me. It's a weird feeling."

Comments

Stella Artois gets repackaged about three times a year in the UK. I really don't understand why they don't consider investing a little in making the beer nicer. Or maybe that would cost a lot, lot more?

Alan is apparently a Gen X-er who has hit 40... err...44... err... 45... YIKES... 46 ... [ZOW-WEE!!] 48... jessh, now 51... and edits and writes about other stuff at his personal website Gen X at 40. Please email Alan or any of the authors at this blog's gmail account - please write if you want to join the ranks of authors of this site or just want to send in a story on your favorite beer or photo of your regular pub.

I have moved the content of the OCB Commentary Wiki here. It is now a static document and pretty much is locked in as understandings existed as of 2012. Probably needs its own wiki to update the content! Below are the original introductory remarks:

"The purpose of this wiki is to collectively make comments, add annotation, identify errata and suggest further sources to the text of The Oxford Companion to Beer. Members are asked to avoid comment about the authors, the structure of the text or other extraneous matters. This wiki is a not for profit project that reviews the text pursuant to the concept of "fair dealing for the purpose of criticism or review" under Canadian copyright law." Alan McLeod, wiki Organizer, and chief bottle washer at A Good Beer Blog. Motto? "Many hands make pleasant work." Alan McLeod, 25 October 2011. Please provide some information about yourself when making a request to join the wiki. Anonymous requests for membership will not be approved. Overly ardent and rudely put claims to authority will be cause for removal from the membership. As of 11 January 2012, 134 entries or 12.2% of the total of 1,100 received commentary, many with multiple comments. Eight of the photos have been corrected as well. That number rose to 151 by 13 May 2012.